I am glad that May Day / International Workers’ Day is still celebrated in Birmingham. It is a few years (decades) since I marched, some years with a banner, some years without. The atmosphere was always warm, even the police enjoyed it!

He described the origins of International Workers’ Day as: ‘”Standing on the shoulders of others”, those that have worked hard for change before us; the eight-hour working day, for example. Organised labour never has never been welcomed, and it is inclement on us to build a better future.

The guest speaker, Arthur Scargill, was sadly unable to attend due to illness, but John Tyrell, President of the Socialist Labour Party, spoke in his place. He remembered 1972, when 50,000 trade union members marched at Saltley gate in support of the miners. It was a lesson in solidarity.

Bridget Green, from W.A.S.P.I. (Women Against Pension Injustice) noted that since its introduction for men and women in 1909, the state pension age has been raised twice, forcing many to continue in work. By 2011, pension…

There are many things in UK politics that are hard to stomach right now. As we slowly watch our country tear itself apart I thought it could not get any worse… and then I read the Schools Week exclusive on Lord Agnew’s cost-cutting consultants and the advice they had been giving to schools. It sickened me to my core and is testament to a deceitful charlatan with the moral backbone of a spineless, champagne swilling, bottom feeder. How have we sunk so low? That we can celebrate 35 million in savings knowing that what we did to achieve it was ethically penniless. We are scavenging for scraps whilst ripping out the heart of all good schools, the people and compassion, and then gambling this on the well-being of its entire workforce. To celebrate this as a good thing should shock us all into immediate action. The fact that it does…

I reblog this piece because it describes something which is not often considered beyond a relatively small circle. It is also pleasing to read of one of my heroes, Charles Waterton. Please do read this and other posts on their blog. Who knows, you too may get hooked on anaesthetics; in a benign way, of course.

The Amazonian arrow poison that revolutionised Anaesthesia

The Anaesthesia Heritage Centre has opened a new temporary exhibition on muscle relaxants. It showcases authentic curare weapons alongside anaesthetic equipment to tell the history of muscle relaxants in the practice of anaesthesia.

Curare is a deadly poison found in the Amazonian Basin of South America. When injected into the bloodstream it acts as a muscle relaxant which paralyses and asphyxiates prey.

[TRIBAL ELDER BINAN TUKUM HUNTING WITH HIS SON FOR MONKEYS IN THE RAINFOREST. COPYRIGHT LAZLO MATES]

Curare was the first muscle relaxant (or neuro-muscular blocking agent) to be introduced into western medicine. It revolutionised the practice of anaesthesia and allowed life saving operations, which were previously considered too dangerous, to be performed for the first time.

South American tribes will shoot curare coated darts or arrows from blow pipes and bows to kill or stun animals for food and…